1 Kings 12:12-24

Complete Jewish Bible

¹² So Yarov‘am and all the people came to Rechav‘am the third day, as the king had requested by saying, “Come to me again the third day”; ¹³ and the king answered the people harshly. Abandoning the advice the older men had given him, ¹⁴ he addressed them according to the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke! My father controlled you with whips, but I will control you with scorpions!” ¹⁵ So the king didn’t listen to the people; and that was something Adonai brought about, so that he could fulfill his word, which Adonai had spoken through Achiyah from Shiloh to Yarov‘am the son of N’vat.

¹⁶ When all Isra’el saw that the king wasn’t listening to them, the people answered the king,

So Isra’el left for their tents.

¹⁷ But as for the people of Isra’el living in the cities of Y’hudah, Rechav‘am ruled over them. ¹⁸ King Rechav‘am then sent Adoram, who was in charge of forced labor; but all Isra’el stoned him to death. King Rechav‘am managed to mount his chariot and flee to Yerushalayim. ¹⁹ Isra’el has been in rebellion against the dynasty of David to this day.

²⁰ On hearing that Yarov‘am had returned, all Isra’el summoned him to the assembly and proclaimed him king over all Isra’el. No one followed the dynasty of David except the tribe of Y’hudah.

²¹ When Rechav‘am arrived in Yerushalayim, he assembled all the house of Y’hudah and the tribe of Binyamin, 180,000 select soldiers, to fight the house of Isra’el and bring the rulership back to Rechav‘am the son of Shlomo. ²² But this word from God came to Sh’ma‘yah the man of God: ²³ “Speak to Rechav‘am the son of Shlomo, king of Y’hudah, to all the house of Y’hudah and Binyamin and to the rest of the people; tell them ²⁴ that this is what Adonai says: ‘You are not to go up and fight your brothers the people of Isra’el! Every man is to go back home, because this is my doing.’” They paid attention to the word of Adonai and turned back, as Adonai had told them to do.